Forest land — Area in Nigeria

Nigeria: Forest land — Area was 17,130 1000 ha in 2025. ▼ Falling

Latest (2025)
17,130 1000 ha
Change on year
down 0.7%
World rank
41st
of 231 countries
All-time high
21,571 1000 ha
in 1990
All-time low
17,130 1000 ha
in 2025
Years of data
36
1990–2025

Forest land — Area in Nigeria, 1990–2025

05.0k10.0k15.0k20.0k1990200720251990: 21.6k 1000 ha1991: 21.4k 1000 ha1992: 21.3k 1000 ha1993: 21.2k 1000 ha1994: 21.1k 1000 ha1995: 20.9k 1000 ha1996: 20.8k 1000 ha1997: 20.7k 1000 ha1998: 20.6k 1000 ha1999: 20.4k 1000 ha2000: 20.3k 1000 ha2001: 20.2k 1000 ha2002: 20.0k 1000 ha2003: 19.9k 1000 ha2004: 19.8k 1000 ha2005: 19.7k 1000 ha2006: 19.5k 1000 ha2007: 19.4k 1000 ha2008: 19.3k 1000 ha2009: 19.2k 1000 ha2010: 19.0k 1000 ha2011: 18.9k 1000 ha2012: 18.8k 1000 ha2013: 18.7k 1000 ha2014: 18.5k 1000 ha2015: 18.4k 1000 ha2016: 18.3k 1000 ha2017: 18.1k 1000 ha2018: 18.0k 1000 ha2019: 17.9k 1000 ha2020: 17.8k 1000 ha2021: 17.6k 1000 ha2022: 17.5k 1000 ha2023: 17.4k 1000 ha2024: 17.3k 1000 ha2025: 17.1k 1000 ha

Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in 1000 ha.

Analysis

In 2025, forest land — area in Nigeria stood at 17,130 1000 ha. That is the lowest value across all 36 years on record.

Compared with earlier readings it is down 0.7% on the previous year and down 6.9% over ten years.

Over the whole period, forest land — area in Nigeria peaked at 21,571 1000 ha in 1990 and was at its lowest, 17,130 1000 ha, in 2025.

Nigeria ranks 41st of 231 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 36 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1990s 21,000 1000 ha 20,429 1000 ha 21,571 1000 ha 10
2000s 19,731 1000 ha 19,160 1000 ha 20,302 1000 ha 10
2010s 18,462 1000 ha 17,891 1000 ha 19,033 1000 ha 10
2020s 17,447 1000 ha 17,130 1000 ha 17,764 1000 ha 6

Countries ranked near Nigeria

  1. 38 Guyana 18,377 1000 ha compare
  2. 39 Chile 18,162 1000 ha compare
  3. 40 France 17,795 1000 ha compare
  4. 42 Botswana 15,730 1000 ha compare
  5. 43 Viet Nam 14,790 1000 ha compare
  6. 44 Suriname 14,674 1000 ha compare

See the full ranking of 267 places →

More environment data for Nigeria

All data for Nigeria →

Frequently asked questions

What is forest land — area in Nigeria?
Forest land — area in Nigeria was 17,130 1000 ha in 2025, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
What is the highest forest land — area recorded in Nigeria?
The highest recorded value was 21,571 1000 ha in 1990.
What is the lowest forest land — area recorded in Nigeria?
The lowest recorded value was 17,130 1000 ha in 2025.
How does Nigeria rank for forest land — area?
Nigeria ranks 41st out of 231 countries with data for 2025.
Is forest land — area rising or falling in Nigeria?
Over the last ten years it is down 6.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Nigeria data come from?
The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, published as part of Forest land — Area. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 36 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (FAO).

About this data

Indicator
Forest land — Area
Unit
1000 ha
Source
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Licence
CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (FAO)
Coverage
267 places, 9,311 data points, 1990–2025
Last refreshed

The FAOSTAT Land Use domain contains data on twenty-one land use categories and twenty-three categories of irrigation and agricultural practices. Data are available yearly and by country, regional and global levels. The domain includes Land Use Indicators providing information on the percentage share of agricultural and forest land, and their sub-components, including irrigated areas and areas under organic agriculture, within a country land use matrix. Data are available at country, regional and global level, for the following elements: (in percentage) i) Share in Land area; ii) Share in Agricultural land, iii) Share in Cropland; and iv) Share in Forest land; (in ha/pc) v) Area per capita.